Backblaze (NASDAQ:BLZE) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Backblaze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLZE) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $7.40, but opened at $9.67. Backblaze shares last traded at $8.2210, with a volume of 4,016,293 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.04. Backblaze had a negative net margin of 13.07% and a negative return on equity of 16.73%. The company had revenue of $46.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.59 million.

More Backblaze News

Here are the key news stories impacting Backblaze this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results exceeded expectations: Backblaze reported adjusted earnings of $0.09 per share, versus the $0.05 analyst consensus, while revenue of $46.65 million topped estimates of $44.59 million. Earnings also improved from $0.03 per share a year earlier. Backblaze Announces Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Strong forward revenue outlook: Backblaze guided fourth-quarter revenue to $49.8 million-$50.2 million, well above the $47.0 million consensus. Full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $177.8 million-$178.2 million also exceeded the $173.0 million estimate. Backblaze Q4 revenue and EBITDA outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud-storage momentum accelerated: Management said B2 revenue growth reached 47% year over year, up from 28% a year earlier, alongside a record number of net-new B2 self-serve customers. The company is also targeting a 32%-34% adjusted EBITDA margin for the fourth quarter. Backblaze third-quarter financial results
• Neutral Sentiment: Needham remains bullish but lowered its valuation target: Needham reduced its price target from $23 to $15 while maintaining a “buy” rating, suggesting analysts see meaningful upside but have moderated their expectations. Needham analyst recommendations
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability remains a risk: Despite the quarterly earnings beat, Backblaze continues to report a negative net margin and negative return on equity, meaning sustained profitable growth remains important to the stock’s longer-term valuation.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLZE. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Backblaze from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Backblaze from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 10th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Backblaze from $23.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on Backblaze from $16.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Backblaze in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Backblaze presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.57.

Insider Activity at Backblaze

In other Backblaze news, CEO Gleb Budman sold 12,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.82, for a total value of $203,366.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,192,103 shares in the company, valued at $34,679,069.46. This represents a 0.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Marc Suidan sold 2,110 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.82, for a total transaction of $33,380.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 349,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,529,374.76. This trade represents a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 4.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AWM Investment Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Backblaze in the second quarter valued at about $22,207,000. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Backblaze by 176.7% during the third quarter. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. now owns 1,266,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,717,000 after purchasing an additional 808,668 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Backblaze by 44.6% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,172,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,046,000 after purchasing an additional 361,905 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Backblaze by 152.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 517,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,785,000 after purchasing an additional 312,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Backblaze during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,074,000. Institutional investors own 54.03% of the company’s stock.

Backblaze Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $12.30 and a 200-day moving average of $9.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $497.37 million, a P/E ratio of -23.43 and a beta of 1.56.

About Backblaze

Backblaze, Inc provides cloud storage and data backup services for businesses, developers and individual users. The company’s offerings are designed to help customers protect, store, manage and access data without maintaining their own extensive storage infrastructure.

Its primary products include Backblaze Computer Backup, a subscription service that automatically backs up data from computers, and Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage, an object-storage platform used for applications such as backup, archiving, content storage and media workflows.